Jaki Nelson – Dancing With Strangers

By starrymag | November 6, 2018

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

 

Q) How would you describe your sound?

 

A) My sound is dance/EDM layered with pop-leaning vocals. Those are my strongest foundations and they steer every song I make.

 

Q) Your father toured with some amazing artists. Who are some of your musical influences growing up?

 

A) My dad toured with acts like the Beach Boys, Tanya Tucker and ELO. Those artists definitely were an influence, but my parents also encouraged me to develop my own tastes. One of my favorite memories is when I got the Lady Gaga Fame album and I was BLASTING “Just Dance” in my room. Most parents would’ve run in and yelled at me to turn it down. My dad comes running into the room and says, “WHAT IS THIS?! THIS IS PERFECTION!”

 

Q) Talk about the story behind your new song “Dancing With Strangers.”

 

A) When I got together with Dave Aude (Grammy winner) and Lauren Dyson (songwriter for BTS) to write “Dancing With Strangers,” I had just gone through the worst breakup of my life. We had been together for three years and I just didn’t know how to move on. I came to the conclusion that most people come to, which is that I had to get out there and start connecting with new people. Get over someone by getting under someone else sort of deal. Through that, I found a version of myself that I lost long before I met my ex. I’m so much happier now, single AF, than I ever was in that relationship, even though it was a beautiful time in my life. It can be hard to move on, but you have to get out there and dance with some strangers.

 

Q) What do you think it is about the song that fans connect to?

 

A) I think everyone has been there to some degree. Breakups are somewhat of a rite of passage, and there’s a grief and a simultaneous joy to the lyrics that I think people can relate to.

 

Q) How did you connect with Dave Aude to produce the song?

 

A) My lifetime family friend/previous manager knew Dave Aude’s really good friend, also named Dave, who started Felix Lighting. They do all of the lighting for every major event on the West Coast including Coachella. We went to hang out with him one afternoon in his office, which by the way, you can only get into by knowing which book to pull from off this random bookcase. I’m serious. And he was like, “Oh, you sing dance music? You should meet my friend Dave Aude!” And I’m sitting there like (in my head), “OMG OK YES PLEEEZE,” and (out loud) “Yeah, that’d be awesome!”

 

Q) How does the video for the track play into the message behind it?

 

A) The video is intended to highlight my bisexuality. I came out a few months before it was shot and we wanted to be honest with what the song is about. So many artists “come out” as bisexual nowadays, but we never see that part of them. Rita Ora came out with her single “Girls,” which has very edgy lyrics, but the video was so incredibly tame. And then a month later, she has this wild, dirty makeout sesh with a guy in a different video. I remember being a teenager and feeling like there was no one out there for me because I am attracted to super-feminine women. It’s part of the reason I stayed in the closet so long. I really want people to know that there is someone out there for them.

 

Q) What is your song writing process? Do you need music before you can create lyrics? 

 

A) In the past, I always needed the track to be mostly built out before I would start writing to it, but lately I’ve been getting cool ideas super randomly and I find myself using voice notes on my phone more and fleshing them out when I get to a computer.

 

Q) How much of hand do you have in the production of your music?

 

A) It depends on the song. I was half of the production on my remix cover of “Boys” by Charli XCX. I was in every production session, I helped write all of the instrument parts. With “Dancing With Strangers,” I wasn’t in on as much of it. Dave Aude works so fast – he just spits out gold right and left – so I let him do his thing.

 

Q) What can fans expect from a live Jaki Nelson performance?

 

A) Expect the unexpected. Sometimes even I don’t know what’s going to happen. I was recently performing for about two thousand people at the Globe Theatre in Los Angeles and my top flew off in the middle of a song. I was lucky enough to already have electrical tape covering anything that would’ve otherwise ended up on TMZ. I thought that I had thought this through, but apparently everyone could hear me say “Oh God…well, f*** it!” I must’ve kept it together pretty well because even my dancers thought that I had done a surprise costume change.

 

Q) Will there be a full album or EP coming in the near future?

 

A) Hopefully an EP. I have some new material that is soooooo close to done but it’s not quiteeee there yet.

 

Q) Where are some of your favorite places to perform and what makes those locations so significant to you?

 

A) I love playing at Avalon Hollywood for TigerHeat. TigerHeat is a legendary club night and it’s an honor to perform on the same stage that’s hosted the greats like Lady Gaga. I also came out on that stage! The crowd has so much energy and I adore everyone that is part of it. Ray Rhodes, their resident superstar DJ, did a kickass remix of “Dancing With Strangers.” Roscoe’s Tavern in Chicago is another great spot. I recently played with Dave Aude for Market Days.

 

Q) Who would you most like to collaborate with on a song in the future?

 

A) I would die to work with Hayley Kiyoko. I’ve been a huge fan of hers for years and I’m so excited about everything she’s been doing lately. And, of course, I love what she is doing for the community.

 

Q) What album/band are you currently listening to and why do you dig them?

 

A) I’m obsessed with Julia Michaels. She is one of the great songwriters of our time. I don’t at all understand how her brain works to write the songs that she does, but man, do I try.

 

Q) Oct.11 marked National Coming Out Day. Tell us about how your parents reacted to you coming out as bisexual on live on stage in front of them.

 

A) I came out on stage in front of a thousand people including my mom. It wasn’t the reaction I was hoping for. I don’t think my parents even understood what I meant for a ​while. The initial response was, “You did great, honey! I have a flight in four hours, I gotta go home and go to sleep.” I wasn’t even sure if she picked it up until about a month later when we sat down and clarified what I meant. After that, her response was “Oh, you’re just like Mommy!” My family is super gay.

 

Q) You are a part of social media. Why is that such an important way for you to connect with your fans?

 

A) I love being able to talk to the people who listen to my music and come to the shows. There was a moment early on in my social media life when I decided that I would at least try to respond to every single message. One day, a teenager DM’d me because she was so upset about getting bullied for being trans. She was contemplating hurting herself. I talked to her for a long time and later, she came back and thanked me up and down for talking her down. “Most people wouldn’t have done that.” At the end of the day, I do music so that maybe I can understand myself a little better and by doing so, maybe I can help some other people. It makes my day any time I can successfully do that.

 

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work?

 

A) I would love to thank every single person who has ever listened to my music. Come hang out at my shows! Follow me on IG @JakiNelson, slide into the DM’s. Let’s talk!